CHANUTE — Every official was a woman at Friday night’s Chanute-Pittsburg basketball games at Chanute High School. It’s the first time in Kansas history that every official, from freshman to JV to varsity, for both boys and girls games, was female.
The seven officials on site included Angie Scrapper of Independence, Tree Mulkin of Pittsburg, Jordan Schmidt of Lawrence, Robyn Hobson of Shawnee, Nancy Tooley of Princeton, Melody Newland of Richmond and Rita Perez of Parsons.
Schmidt, Hobson and Tooley were the varsity crew.
“The awesome part was that we showed female athletes that it’s OK to be fierce and be awesome,” Tooley said. “How often do they see female officials? To be here for the girls, that was special to me. To get to be a part of this was awesome.”
“I was excited and honored to be a part of the crew,” Hobson said. “I got to be part of history. We want to be role models and get more women officiating.”
Friday’s crew at Chanute was diverse in its makeup, with Schmidt being in her 20s in grad school as well as two black women and a hispanic woman on the roster.
“Different perspectives, whether it’s age or ethnicity, is great,” Hobson said. “We all want to learn and grow together through different representations. And we want our athletes to be represented in our crews.”
Most of the officials on site have been staples in the area for years.
“We grew up in this profession going to camps,” Tooley said. “That was the expectation for us. Over the last six years or so, the expectation for officials to improve has increased. That’s good for us. We have evaluators looking at our positioning and our foul calls. We have access to video to look at our calls.”
Schmidt, the youngest on the varsity crew, is a graduate student at KU. She started officiating as an undergrad at Baker and is in her fifth year patrolling the floor.
“I’ve always been in sports,” Schmidt said. “In college, my dad told me I had to get a job. My dad officiated in college and told me it was a great part-time job. So that’s how I got into it. I went to camps. It’s been great being able to learn and grow through every opportunity I’ve had. It’s been very impactful.”
The varsity crew addressed the ongoing nationwide official shortage, a pervasive problem spurned by abuse from fans.
“Some of the stuff that is said is extremely vile,” Tooley said. “The spectators can be completely out of line. Younger officials hear that stuff and don’t want to deal with it. These refs aren’t seeing the value in it anymore. We give up a huge chunk of our time. And there’s fans that think they paid their admission so they can say what they want. We just want people to be good humans. People Jordan’s age don’t want to be talked to that way.”
Schmidt added that she’s been escorted by police to her vehicle twice this year.
“It sucks when you have to be walked out to your car by a school resource officer because the administrators on site are worried about your safety,” Schmidt said. “That’s happened to me twice this year, including at a middle school game. Fans have made it very hard. But we’re not here for the fans. We’re here for the kids. I wouldn’t have been able to play all the sports I did growing up without officials.”
Recruiting more women to the sidelines was a priority for the seven that made history on Friday night.
“Being visible and available is important,” Hobson said. “We all have to be supportive. Our presence helps every woman know there’s a community out there to help them. We do have fun and we want more women to see that enjoyment.”
“Officiating can be a heck of an advocation,” Tooley added. “I’ve met people who make careers out of it. And it’s a lucrative career. So we want to keep as many avenues as possible open for people.”
